Authors Note: Well it's taken me long enough to get this second chapter wrote. Work has been taking up so much time but I've put the effort in this week and got in complete at last. So now you can enjoy. Anyway this chapter is still an introduction so not as many comedy moments still but after this we can get some nice scenes in. Just read it will all make sense then...
Survival Training
Chapter 2
"Welcome to the Island Closest to Hell," Seifer sneered. "Your new home for the next few days.
Seifer began to walk closer to the six, who stood bemused in front of a rust-bucket plane that looked ready to collapse into a pile of scrap metal. "Hey," he shouted through the window to the pilot. "You better get going now. We don't want anyone trying to escape, do we?"
The pilot saluted Seifer with a mad grin. "Aye aye, Cap'n," the pilot yelled back. Moments later, the engine started up in revolt and the blades spun into a rickety blur. The blade spluttered forward slowly at first, edging dangerously close to a thick wall of trees. With an agility that planes didn't have, the pilot managed to spin the plane in a tight circle almost on the spot. The back end of the plane brushed against some leaves of the closest jungle trees. The engine was then cranked up to full power, the old motor burned into a deafening roar. The plane seemed to have failed, as it stood stationary for a moment, before accelerating with unbelievable speed. The pilot saluted as he passed them again and then pulling back the stick lifted the old aircraft into the air.
Seconds later the plane had disappeared above the thick foliage, his teenage recklessness ruling his brain rather than his aged experience as he let the aircraft drift only a few feet above the tall trees, where contact with a lone branch could bring the plane crashing down. He grinned as he reached the end of the island, the trees were rapidly disappearing below him as his speed edged upwards on the dial. As the final plants vanished from view he threw the stick all the way back and the plane shot quickly into the air, gaining a few thousand feet within less than a minute. People doubted this old dog, but he could get it to do most things he wanted to.
He let the plane drift to the left, a slow turn that allowed him to see the island below him. One final salute to the island and then he disappeared into the clouds as he sped for home, hoping he would get back to Balamb just before sunset.
Squall looked as the plane circled the island before jumping into the clouds. It was a strange feeling to know that was the only way off the island and they were stuck here. To what...survive? It sounded like something Squall would like, the ultimate challenge for a fighter like him - alone in the world. Him and his gunblade fighting monsters one after another until he was the only one left. But there was something strange about this place, a dark feeling that hid among the shadows and preyed on them as they tried to survive.
He wasn't sure how the others felt, he couldn't tell by looking them what they were thinking. Were they scared or excited? Or were they all looking to him to lead the way?
Before Squall could slip into more thoughts, Seifer had turned back to them and began to talk.
"Are you ready to begin your Survival Training?" he asked calmly, looking each in the eye. A penetrating look that made each want to look away.
"Exactly what is Survival Training?" Quistis had to ask. They had been forced into this deserted island within a matter of hours, yet no one had explained what it exactly was.
"It is a place which has several challenges that will test you physically and mentally," Seifer spoke in an authoritative voice. "But a place where wild monsters roam freely and they will attack. Unfortunately for us the monsters were placed on the island before the Shumi workers had finished all the work and several of them were attacked and some killed."
An audible gulp could be heard among the SeeD members.
"Luckily, life insurance isn't big in the Shumi Village," Seifer attempted a joke to lighten the mood. "But you must be on your guard all the time. Some strong monsters are here – T-Rexaurs, Behemoths, Ruby Dragons, Malboros and Bite Bugs."
"Bite Bugs?" Squall was sure he hadn't heard that right.
Seifer grinned. "Yes, Bite Bugs, but not the usual type you find in Balamb. We got Dr. Odine to do some little experiments and we managed to cross it with their close cousins, an Elnoyle. So now those little stingers pack quite a punch. You really have to be careful of them; they've already developed a taste for T-Rexaurs and can be nasty little buggers, pun intended, when they hunt in a group."
Squall nodded in thought. This really was going to be survival of the fittest.
"But don't worry," Seifer laughed. "Although you'll be left to fight on your own we have several security items in place. Some of the most dangerous monsters are behind electrified fences so there is no chance of them escaping...unless we have a power cut. But what are the chances of that happening; I mean, you never saw Jurassic Park having a power cut, did you?"
Memories of the movie floated back...and for some reason, despite Seifer's last sentence they could remember power cuts allowing dinosaurs to escape.
Seifer continued. "And as a last resort, we do have a satellite in orbit above this island with a powerful death-ray equipped that I can use should the worst come to the worst."
Squall began to contemplate what situation 'the worst come to the worst' could be applied to. Between the teeth of an angry T-Rexaur? A gang of Behemoths that were enjoying using their newfound skill of casting Meteor spells? Before Squall could think anymore Seifer began to talk again.
"Come on, I think I should show you the Command Post on this island, where I will be situated."
Seifer turned and began to walk into the jungle. Squall spotted that there was a thin trail between the trees that led into the dark woods. The six looked at each other and then began to follow when they realised there was no other option.
"I don't trust Seifer," Zell said quietly. "How could Cid trust him again after what he did?"
"I don't know," Irvine shook his head. "And I don't trust a death-ray in Seifer's hands."
The others nodded in silent agreement as they walked between thicker trees, the ground now beginning to descend down a small hill. A death-ray under Seifer's control was a scary prospect; especially as just months ago they had been fighting Ultimecia and had tried to kill Seifer along the way.
Squall looked through the trees again, sensing something moving to the side. A shadow seemed to be creeping close by. Something was on this island, Squall told himself, and it was watching them all the time.
The path twisted right and almost immediately the trees began to thin and a concrete structure could be seen amongst the trees. The trail came to rest at a black metal door, a keypad to the right of it.
Seifer grinned at the six as they came to a stop in front of him. Who would have thought he would be in control of something like this after Ultimecia? And in charge of these six? Cid had given him another chance, and for that he was grateful...even if it did mean living on an island with only monsters for companionship. At least the pay was good.
Quistis returned Seifer smile and fluttered her eyelashes in a extremely out of character moment, although luckily no one noticed as they had all been distracted by a caterpillar.
"Wow, look at it go," Selphie squealed as the small creature began to crawl up a leaf.
The caterpillar raised its head and quickly struck the leaf, it's teeth (if you could call them that) grabbing some greenery and began to chew. "That caterpillar is going to grow up to be one hell of a insect when he grows up," Zell said excited, throwing his fists around as if trying to teach the caterpillar some moves.
A sudden gust of wind swept by wrenching the leaf from the tree and flying off into the unknown of the jungle. "No!" everyone cried, as the small creature was suddenly gone.
Squall got sentimental and remembering his childhood told the caterpillar some valuable advice. "You're not alone," he said sincerely.
The other five turned and stared at Squall. "I think Squall's going insane," Zell spun his finger round by his head. "Why are you talking to caterpillars, dude?"
"You were as well," Squall tried to defend his actions.
"Whatever," Zell replied and then shook himself for sounding too much like Squall.
Seifer shook his head, then turned and quickly entered a code into the keyboard. A small buzz could be heard, and then a click as a lock slid open. He grabbed the handle and pulled the door open and stepped into the dimly lit corridor. Squall and the others looked to the door and began to follow, one by one, through the narrow door.
"4 inches of steel, 3 layers of concrete with metal supports and a magic seal within 100 metres," Seifer spoke as he walked along without looking back. "This place is completely impenetrable. No monster could ever get into here."
They arrived at another door, this time Seifer pulled out a key and twisted the lock open. This room was much bigger, appearing to be a control room. The left and right sides were on raised sections. The right side of the room was a wall of monitors, feedback from cameras over the island. Most of them appeared to be empty but he saw a few monsters shuffling past some. The left side had more monitors but these were for computers, displaying various pieces of information that were needed to run the island.
The centre of the room housed a large table with many tall chairs slid underneath. And just behind it three Shumi's were stood, dressed in traditional Garden outfits. Each one stood stationary, their faces hidden by the strangely shaped hats. And behind the Shumi stood a metal set of double doors.
"Sit down," Seifer motioned towards the table. The six obeyed and each pulled out a seat and sat around the table.
Seifer waited until they were all seated before taking his position on the opposite side of the table. "Behind me," he motioned to the double doors. "Is the entrance to Survival Training. There are 3 levels to this island, security fences separate each and you will have to complete the challenges within one section to proceed to the next. Each level also has progressively stronger monsters that you will have to face to survive. But as this is Survival Training, and you did manage to defeat Ultimecia, we will be making it a little harder for you six by confiscating your weapons."
"What!?" they all said together. They were strong but trying to fight a Ruby Dragon unarmed was just suicide.
Seifer sneered. "Don't worry, you won't be completely defenceless. You will have the opportunity to get a weapon to replace your own. Now, if you don't mind, hand over your weapons."
The three Shumi's stood up and reluctantly they handed their weapons over. Squall unsheathed Lionheart and looked admiringly at its design.
"Don't worry Squall," Seifer grinned. "I'll look after it for you."
Squall frowned, not wanting Seifer to be anywhere near his gunblade, but eventually handed it over after he realised there was no other option as the Shumi loomed over him.
The Shumis' walked around the room gathering each person's weapon until they rested at Zell who was busy doing some shadow boxing.
"Chickenwuss, hand over your weapons," Seifer said irritated.
Zell stopped and looked around bemused. "You might not have noticed but I can't hand my weapons over. We're kind of attached, if you know what I mean."
A Shumi walked up to Zell, his patience seemingly already exhausted. Zell looked up at the tall yellow figure that loomed over him. "What do you want me to do?" Zell shouted. "Just unscrew my hands."
The Shumi didn't react and stood waiting for Zell.
Quistis shook his head. "Zell, I think they want your glo-"
"No, it's okay Quistis, I understand," Zell sighed and looked towards his two fists. "Well I guess this is it, old friends. I know we should have stayed together for the rest of our lives but some people don't seem to understand that. I guess I'm just going to have to live without you. Goodbye fair hands."
Zell was now almost in tears. "Squall, can you pass me your gunblade. I want to make this as quick as possible."
"No Zell," Squall said trying to get the message across. "They want your-"
"Squall, I thought we were friends but instead you just want to see me in pain," Zell thought for a moment. "Well I guess there's only one other option. I'll have to chew through."
"Zell-"
"Don't try to stop me, it's what they want," he pointed to the Shumi, a luxury he soon wouldn't have. Taking his gloves off he handed them to the Shumi. "Take them, I won't need them anymore."
The Shumi walked off immediately and placed them with the rest of the weapons. Zell placed his wrist between his teeth and began to bite down.
"Thank you for giving us your gloves," Seifer said calmly as if nothing unusual was happening. "Now we can continue."
"Hbbf?" Zell said between bites, then let his hand out his mouth. "What are you going on about Seifer? I haven't got them off yet, give me a few hours."
Seifer shook his head in despair. "Zell, we just wanted your gloves. You can keep your hands."
Zell looked down at his two friends. "Did you hear that?" he said excited. "You're staying with me for a little while longer after all."
"Okay, where was I," Seifer began to think. This was taking longer than he had expected. "Oh yes, you will have to survive without weapons, although successfully completing challenges will mean rewards that will help you to survive against some of the stronger enemies...especially in the final area."
Irvine sat in thought. "This sounds very much like a game show."
Seifer laughed and motioned to the wall of monitors. "Not only are they to keep watch of everything that goes on, if it proves to be entertaining Cid is planning to sell this as a TV show across the world."
Quistis sighed. Was there any depths of shamelessness Cid wouldn't plunge SeeDs?
Squall looked at the screens again and remembered the feeling of being watched he had experienced earlier. "Is there anything else on the island?"
Seifer narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"Apart from the monsters you put on this island, is there anything else that is living on this island?"
Seifer turned and looked at the Shumi who shrugged. "I'd think we would know if there was something on this island," he motioned towards all the screens. "Nothing can get past us."
Suddenly an alarm started to sound on the other side of the room. Seifer ran to the computer to check the problem. "A Behemoth trying to get through the security fence around the canteen," he said military style to the Shumi. Flicking a switch a wall opened up to reveal a large selection of guns. "Do what you've got to do, I want my donuts tonight."
The Shumi quickly selected their weapons and ran through the double doors into the wild.
"Nothing get past you?" Irvine questioned.
"That was a minor incident," Seifer spoke. "It'll be a different matter if they get their hands...or claws...or that sugary goodness."
Selphie jumped up alive for the first time. "Sugar high!" she screamed.
"Erm...yes," Seifer said before continuing. "And if you do manage to get all the way to the end of the island there will be one final challenge for you and if you can complete that you will all be going for a week break at Las Deling."
"Las Deling?" Rinoa asked. "You mean that massive casino that all the rich and famous people go to."
"The very one."
"All of a sudden this Survival Training isn't looking too bad after all," she smiled at Squall. "Maybe we'll get the Presidential Suite. I've heard that has a king-king-size bed."
Squall suddenly flushed as Irvine began to grin madly.
"Well that's everything explained," Seifer said changing the subject. "Now just to get our equipment."
He flicked a switch and six large bags appeared behind a large panel. "Tents, food rations, some first-aid equipment, and some basic weapons," Seifer said as he passed them to the six.
He led them to the double doors. "Your first meeting point is a mile north from here. You will be on your own once you go through these doors. Good luck to you all."
Squall pulled the door open and looked out. It was just like the rest of the island, a thick uninhabitable jungle. He stepped out and the others followed suit.
Zell didn't waste any time to investigate his bag. After a minute of looking through he sighed in defeat. "Not one hotdog..."
Quistis looked at him. "Zell now isn't the time to be thinking of hotdogs. What else is in the bag?"
"Canned foods, some water, a bit of salad...of all the things. Who wants to eat salad?" he complained.
"Zell! Not foods! What other equipment?"
"Oh, why didn't you say that?" he looked through the bag again. "A tent, some pots, a compass-"
Quistis smiled. "Well there we have it. We need to go to north and we have a compass. I think this is going to be easier than we thought."
Zell got the compass out and handed it to Quistis who quickly took the lead and began to head north through the trees. After a while the trail led to the east so they had the task of making their way through the thick undergrowth, the plants constantly needing to be pulled backwards just to move forward.
Squall was following Quistis silently alongside Rinoa who hung close to him. Progress was slow; the mile was taking much longer than it should have taken to walk. He began to concentrate on the surroundings, observing the tall trees that blocked out the sunlight and the deadly silence due to the lack of animals that should have resided here. Seifer had said there were monsters and he had seen them on the screen but so far none had come to investigate the jungles new visitors.
Squall waited as Quistis pushed another large plant to the side but then noticed a shadow in the corner of his eye. He turned but there was nothing there.
Rinoa looked concerned. "Are you alright?"
Squall nodded. "I thought I saw something," he said, eyes still searching through the trees.
Rinoa turned and looked as well. "I don't see anything."
"Probably nothing," he said quietly.
They walked forward through the plant Quistis had pushed aside. This area seemed to be darker, the tree branches succeeding in blocking the light. They stepped between another two trees when they heard a crack. This time they all heard it, freezing they looked around trying to spot what caused the noise. Probably a small creature creeping about, the only thing it could be.
Squall spotted a shadow move on the right. Then another on the left. "They're trying to surround us, come on let's move."
Everyone started to move at once, stumbling through the greenery, gnarled branches snatching at their feet as they tried to move. As one person moved through one tree the branches would snap back and slap the next approaching person, bruising and ripping into their skin. They didn't stop moving until they reached a small clearing, only about 10 feet across but enough room to fight in, even if they didn't have any weapons.
They paused, heavy breathing echoed from each one as they waited. Waiting for whatever it was to show itself. A shadow moved between two trees then disappeared again. Every time you caught sight of it, it had disappeared again.
"There," Rinoa said quietly. The others turned to see that the shadow was now moving in a straight line towards them. Its form was still hidden in silhouette but it appeared to be about human height. It paused for a moment, a low noise could be heard from it then it advanced again. Through the trees it leaped, ready to attack.
"Boo!"
Squall screamed. A high, girly scream.
"Raijin? Fujin?" Zell asked confused.
The two looked at each other laughing. "We decided to scare you, ya know?" Raijin said between fits of laughter. "Who screamed like that?"
Squall looked around shifty, then he came up with a plan.
"Don't be scared Rinoa," he said placing a hand on her back. "It was only Raijin and Fujin. It's okay now, nothing is trying to kill you."
"But Squall, it wasn't me who screamed."
He placed an arm around her. "I'll protect you from anything that tries to hurt you. You never have to worry again."
"But..."
Selphie stepped up. "Yeah, Rinoa, they'd have to get past us first."
Rinoa sighed in defeat. "Okay," she faked a smile. "Thank you."
Irvine looked at the two. "So what are you doing here."
"WORK." Fujin explained poorly.
"Yeah, we're working with Seifer here, ya know. And you were meant to find us, not us find you. Can't you follow a compass in a straight line?"
Everyone looked at Quistis who failed to hide the compass quickly enough. "It must be broken."
"Whatever," Squall muttered before Quistis gave him a death glare which shut him up.
"FOLLOW." Fujin instructed before she turned and walked away with Raijin following behind and the six shrugged and followed after.
Authors Note: Phew done. Sorry in advance if there are any typos or grammar mistakes. Please leave a review and hopefully inspire me to write chapter 3 quicker than this one.